Pages

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Lasagna is a pretty classic comfort food, but not one that I would normally make for a weeknight dinner. With just the two of us eating, an entire pan of lasagna is enough food to eat for a week so unless we're expecting company, lasagna is a rare treat. If you are like me, lasagna roll-ups are the solution. You can make as many servings as you need and you can do it in less time.

The process starts out the same, boil the noodles, brown the meat and make a sauce. Make a ricotta mixture and then you just roll it up. Depending on how many you are making you can bake them in a loaf pan, an 8x8 pan or whatever you need. To assemble, you just drain the noodles, spread a little of the ricotta mixture on top, add meat sauce and roll them up. Top with a little more sauce, some mozzarella cheese and bake. Voila - lasagna the easy way.

I generally swap whole wheat pasta for regular pasta and use ground turkey instead of ground beef to lighten up the recipe.

Lasagna Roll-ups

8 lasagna noodles

1/2 pound lean ground turkey

1 T olive oil

1 clove garlic

1/2 onion

1 can crushed tomatoes

1 egg

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 T fresh basil, chopped

1 1/2 T fresh oregano, chopped

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat a large pot of water to boiling over high heat. When it reaches a boil, salt liberally and drop noodles. Stir occasionally and cook to just al dente. You want to leave them slightly more firm since you'll be baking the pasta. Drain noodles and set aside.

Meanwhile in a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add turkey and brown. When almost cooked through, add tomatoes and reduce heat to medium low. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Add 1/2 the basil, oregano, and crushed red pepper flakes and stir to combine.

In a small bowl, lightly beat egg. Add ricotta, Parmesan and remaining basil and oregano and stir together. Spray pan lightly with cooking spray. Add enough sauce to lightly cover the bottom of the pan. To assemble, on a drained noodle, add a spoonful of ricotta mixture. Top with a spoonful of meat sauce and roll up. Place seam side down in pan. Continue until you've used all the noodles. Top each with a little more meat sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella and remaining crushed red pepper flakes. Bake approximately 20 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.

I was crazy excited to make these today, and they turned out absolutely awesome! They were gorgeous I made 6, we had two each(although they're really filling, I couldn't finish!), and we're each getting one for lunch tomorrow. The only thing I changed was using ground chicken, and I found my crushed tomatoes were slightly bitter, so added kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, turned it into pure bliss.

Was wondering if you could make these ahead and freeze them? They do seem real easy to make but we have a very busy work week and would love to have something to just throw in the oven when we get home.

These can definitely be made ahead and frozen. Just get them in the pan, cover tightly with foil and freeze. I would thaw them in the refrigerator before baking and you'll need to increase your baking time some.

been craving lasanga for a while but as everyone else said its way too much leftovers so this is such a better way of doing it. my honey and i look forward to this recipe tonight and hopefully my lil one will love it also. thanks for the recipe

Will be trying these. I used to have to freeze over half a pan of lasagna which was nice to have on hand for nights I didn't feel like standing in the kitchen making a good meal. But these also could be frozen for later date too. Can't wait to try them. I know they will be a huge hit in my house!

Made these tonight for dinner... I used my own spaghetti sauce recipe and used whole wheat lasagna noodles... Made a double batch and only had 4 left.. I would say they are a hit at my house! Thanks for sharing! I will definitely make them again!

@ Anonymous on 6-23-12 It says how to make the sauce in the second paragraph of the recipe...Meanwhile in a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add turkey and brown. When almost cooked through, add tomatoes and reduce heat to medium low. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Add 1/2 the basil, oregano, and crushed red pepper flakes and stir to combine.

I had a serious craving for Italian, but didn't want to give up on eating well. I came across this recipe and - oh my goodness! These are AHHH-Mazing :-) I did take them one step further and used fat-free ricotta though - I don't think it affected things too much. My husband gave them a double thumbs up as well - these will definitely be a staple this winter! Thanks so much!!Best,*C*

I made thus for dinner tonight!!! But instead of beef or turkey burger I used mild hot Italian sausage and its amazing thank you so much for the recipe i only cook for two and its really hard to not make too much with these its so much easier and they are a huge hit

Made this last week and it was a hit! My BF loved them and so did I. As a Hispanic I season the ground beef a little differently and it was delish. To minimize a little of the mess I put a piece of parchment paper on my counter and lay the lasagna noodles on that and fill and roll them. I had no problems with getting them to the pan in tact and cleanup was a breeze!

I doubled the recipe and ended up a little heavy on the sauce. It was perfect! Extra sauce into the fridge or freezer for a quick spaghetti night without having to crack a jar of store bought sauce! I do recommend adding a pinch of salt, sugar, and citrus (like lemon juice) to the sauce to cut the acidity and brighten the flavors. My 4 year old daughter told me, as we made them, that she knew she'd say "YUM YUM YUM" when she ate these! Thanks!

I am in the baking process of this recipe.. it was a fun recipe to make. My boyfriend helped me with the sauce and accembly and it was a blast... they look delicious too I can't wait to actually eat them!!!!!